Please Attend the Gilbert School Board Meeting! Sept. 23

Please read this urgent email from Christine Accurso. If you cannot attend this meeting, please send an email to the Gilbert School Board (board@gilbertschools.net), and copy Dr. Christina M. Kishimoto ( christina.kishimoto@gilbertschools.net).

Dear Friends,

The sex education taught in Gilbert Public Schools is the Choosing the Best curriculum and it is decent and promotes abstinence. I am grateful for that!

In the Arizona Revised Statute listed here (http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/50leg/2r/laws/0260.pdf ) (Commonly referred to as Senate Bill 1009) the law clearly states that all materials furnished to students must prefer, encourage and support childbirth and adoption as preferred options to elective abortion. We have great pro-life & pro-family laws in our state and they will mean nothing if we don’t watch to be sure they are enforced.

In the Biology Concepts & Connections textbook by Campbell, a book that has been furnished to our students, it refers to abortion without any mention of childbirth or adoption at all. The text states, "If pregnancy has already occurred, the drug mifepristone, or RU486, can induce an abortion, the termination of a pregnancy in progress. If taken within the first 7 weeks, RU486 blocks progesterone receptors in the uterus, thus preventing progesterone from maintaining pregnancy. Mifepristone requires a doctor’s prescription and several visits to a medical facility and may cause significant side effects." (Biology Concepts & Connections by Campbell, Page 545) (Click HERE to read page 545.)

This is a simple issue. The law is clear and the error is obvious. We need to encourage our school board to fix this issue immediately and stop dragging their feet. This law was passed in April of 2012, this issue was brought up in January and this textbook is already in the hands of our students, again. I am happy to see this issue finally made its way to the agenda. We have been pushing and asking about this for over 8 months.

Now is the time to take a stand and encourage the board to act on this and stop procrastinating! PLEASE join me on Tuesday, September 23rd at 7pm at the Gilbert Public Schools (140 S. Gilbert Road Gilbert, AZ 85296) board meeting! Our strength as a community is in our unity! You do not need to necessarily speak during public comment, but are welcome to stand with me and others as we respectfully encourage the board to comply with the law for the good of our students. These are our children, our grandchildren, our neighbors, our students and even our tax dollars. We can vote people into office to get these great laws passed, but if we don’t hold people accountable to ensuring they are enforced, they mean nothing.

Please feel free to forward this note to all concerned. If you cannot attend, please pray for this issue to be resolved. Thank you!

Warm Regards,
Christine Accurso
Gilbert, Arizona